We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Katharine Nicole Magsaysay a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Katharine Nicole thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

Let’s talk about the risks I took on my journey to entrepreneurship. I was laying in a hospital bed at 23 years old, completely burned out from working at the bank. I was hospitalized because I stopped breathing at work, and they couldn’t figure out what was wrong. I spent almost a month going back and forth between the hospital and the office. Every time I returned to the office, my body would go into shock, I’d stop breathing and end up back in that same hospital again.

Laying in that hospital bed after all those episodes, I realized that this couldn’t be how I’d die, this couldn’t be the way the story ends. I was too young to be stressed out like this. So, I took it upon myself to step back and think about what I really wanted for myself and for my future. I decided that if I could do anything, the time is now! I gave my notice at the bank, and my cousin, who was looking for a nanny at the time, offered me the opportunity. I told her about my desire to go back to school for communications and marketing and to start my own business. I was living in LA at the time and I could see all the potential opportunities knocking.

She gave me a chance to watch her kids, and I went back to school. This was the turning point that catapulted everything. I took the risk of betting on myself. In LA, I was hungry and ready for anything. I bought a camera and became a photographer for child actors and actresses, right around the time when Instagram was starting to take off. I also helped people set up their Instagram accounts and portfolios for the studios.

From there, I met other people on my journey who were looking for content creators. I was doing content creation before it became a thing. I tried to find internships and ended up getting one at the Downtown Women’s Center in Los Angeles. I also met my best friend, who at the time was selling a vegan body care line. I approached her, expressing my interest in marketing and my admiration for her brand. She gave me the opportunity to learn marketing and other freelance skills under her, as she had been doing marketing for 5-6 years at that point.

It was the risk I needed to take, and it led me to the next steps of creating my own path and business. I was open and willing to take or create opportunities for myself. I met someone at a photoshoot gig, who had a partner that owned a marketing agency, who was looking for someone to do social media management, creation and strategy. That opportunity gave me the courage to keep putting myself out there and offering my services to help other people’s businesses grow and thrive. From there, I continued to meet other like minded individuals and entrepreneurs who have wanted to work or collaborate together, and share valuable resources. Every step of my journey has been a risk, but I was willing to take those odds because I didn’t want to go back to corporate life. I wanted to create my own future, provide opportunities for those I worked with, and build a life and an agency where I wasn’t limited to just one thing.

Katharine Nicole, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Say Say Experience is a business development agency for mission-driven creatives who don’t know where to start in business, Say Say Experience is the one-stop top shelf shop to bring your business idea to life and launch through true collaboration, co-creation, and full-service creative direction.

We offer several different packages and services such as:

Launch Action Plan – Work directly with me to uncover an actionable plan to execute your business goals.

Let’s Launch Your Plan (90 Days) – “I need someone to work my plan”  where we create strategies and systems that will help bring your launch to life.

Build Your Business Experience – Start your business off the right way without all the guesswork – your own business concierge.

Day of Event Planner – Virtual and in-person event day-of support, Management of guest experience during your event.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

What I’ve found to be most helpful in the past is growing my own personal network. It’s essential for building strong relationships and referral base. Doing what feels most comfortable for you and not feeling like you have to be someone else to achieve that. I’ve attended networking events and tried various approaches, and nothing has proven to be more effective than genuinely building relationships.

The key is to focus on building connections and truly listening to people, like really listening to them and their current challenges and finding solutions their needs. This approach has set me apart and allowed me to be distinct in my field. Let’s emphasize the importance of nurturing relationships and what it can achieve.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

It’s about allowing people to leverage their strengths and bring their ideas to the table, fostering creativity. When you exert too much control over your team’s outcomes, it stifles their creativity and restricts their freedom to explore and grow. People often try to micromanage the end result, but the real value lies in the journey.

Yes, you may have expectations about how things should unfold, but it’s crucial to grant individuals the creative freedom they need. This allows them to express themselves and introduce fresh perspectives that can be truly unique. You never know what might resonate with the client or provide valuable options. Unfortunately, many people overlook this aspect.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.saysayexperience.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/saysayexperience and instagram.com/ohheymagsaysay
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/knmagsaysay1111